Since August of 1994 I have teaching people how to test software and how to get a job in the field. Software Quality Assurance is the perfect "back door to IT field" for people with all the college degrees thinkable. 2-3 month in a class. Than 1-2 month working as an intern and here you are working as Software Tester with starting compensation around $30 per hour.

There is an article I have published a few years ago on the subject - I am just about to copy-paste it down belowsimply to start that blog. For more details you can always go to http://www.portnov.com

Software QA is a unique job niche in many ways: Maturity is an asset in software testing unlike other IT fields, and Whatever your prior education or work experience, it is likely to be an asset because there is likely to be software that specializes in your field of expertise.

The profession of software testing emerged in the early nineties when personal computers became more popular as they became more affordable. The fast-growing population of PC users created new opportunities for software companies as well as strong competition for the consumer’s business. The new generation of software users quite naturally expected their applications to work as advertised. At the same time, market forces encouraged the fast release of new software often at the sacrifice of thorough testing. Defective software does not sell. The software industry soon recognized that, to achieve success, they would have to set quality standards prior to release and create thorough end-user testing procedures in-house.

In 1992, I got my very first job as a Software QA Engineer literally by accident — an old friend introduced me to a small startup company in Newark where he worked at the time. My job there was to identify functionality and performance problems in a client-server database application. I searched for fellow testers for professional networking; but I found none. I approached over two dozen software developers asking if they knew of anyone who tests software for a living. They had never heard of software testers and could see no use for them since they tested their own software. I found myself wondering what growth potential, if any, there may be in this career. In particular, I wanted to know how much I could earn as a software tester. I approached our VP of Engineering with this question. He suggested that, if I stay with the company for five years and do really well, I might hope to make up to $40,000 a year. A small group of developers who had heard this exchange were clearly skeptical. I read the look on their faces, “That’ll be the day!”

In May of 1993 the startup I worked for collapsed. In the course of a week, there were five advertisements in the San Jose Mercury News for software QA positions. I sent a resume to each, which resulted in two job interviews the following week and one on-the-spot job offer. My new employer was a multimedia startup. And guess what — that job paid 25 percent more than my previous one. Three months later I got a raise, which brought me to a $40,000 salary, exactly the projected five-year target thought to be unrealistic. My new employers were exceptionally successful. They sold the company profitably six months later. The new owners restructured the business and I was back in the job market again.

What I discovered in my new job search amazed me. Where I had found only five software quality assurance listings over the course of a week, I was now finding 10-12 listings a day. I had 3-4 interviews a week, sometimes two interviews a day, and received many offers within a month. The market had grown dramatically within a single year and the demand for software testers far exceeded the supply.

I chose the company that offered me strong exposure to automated testing, my passion at the time; but I could not help mulling over the amazing growth in demand for software testers and the equally amazing lack of supply. I soon realized that the gap could be narrowed with a training program that prepared students for QA positions quickly and effectively. Software testing, however, was not to be found in the college curriculum. That knowledge inspired me to start a school in August, 1994 with a single objective: teach software testing skills to qualified students, do it within 2 to 3 months, and help my graduates find a job in QA.

In the mid-90s, software testing was still a new profession. Between 1994 and 1997, half of my graduates became the first person in their companies specifically hired as software testers. Today, most software companies have a dedicated quality assurance department with one or more managers and a staff ranging from junior testers to senior quality assurance engineers. Opportunities abound.

Before the recent recession, our graduates earned a starting salary of about $60,000 on average with 2-3 weeks spent on job search. Those who liked to change jobs every year or so as they acquired experience, saw their salaries grow to $90,000-95,000 within two-three years. When the recent recession hit Silicon Valley, there appeared to be no jobs at all for the inexperienced software tester. As the perceived job opportunities disappeared, so did the training schools that had flourished in Silicon Valley. In the year 2000, I could easily count 20 such schools. We may be the only one that survived. But in the year 2006, the recession is over. On average, our graduates are getting 2 job interviews a week. It seems to take only 3 or 4 interviews to land an offer. Several local companies are also offering internships to our graduates. Finding a QA job today seems to be no more difficult than it was in the 90s. What better job market could you want?

And yet, I meet people caught in the 2003-2003 mindset. They circulate the same, tiresome three myths that become their excuse for inaction:

• All QA jobs are being outsourced; there are no QA jobs in Silicon Valley.
  
• The job market is so bad that companies can hire developers to do QA.
  
• Test automation has replaced the need for human testers.
  

Fortunately, I also meet people who can see that the job market is back, even for a software tester with only two–three months training. Many of our students are new immigrants from a wide variety of backgrounds trying to establish themselves in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. Many have concerns about finding work without lengthy and expensive retraining. Some are concerned about their age fearing they are too old to start a new career while others fret over their ability to learn and adapt to a new profession. We have been able to prove to them that software QA is a viable option for their new careers.

Software QA is a unique job niche in many ways: Maturity is an asset in software testing unlike other IT fields. Maturity is easily marketed as patience, attention to detail, and tolerance for routine tasks, all of which are highly valued in software QA.

Mikhail Portnov has 15 years experience in the Software Programming Industry. He is based in Mountain View, Calif.

Whatever your prior education or work experience, it is likely to be an asset because there is likely to be software that specializes in your field of expertise. If you have experience in education, accounting, banking, publishing, workflow or contact management, sales, client relations, drafting, stock or bond trading, image processing, to name but a few industries, you will find software companies that target your field. Testing software is basically about finding the discrepancy between the expected behavior of the application and its actual behavior. If you have an accounting background, for example, you are better positioned to understand what the expected behavior of a software application should be and how an accounting department would use it.

Testing is not a difficult concept to learn. We all have some experience testing something. We test new recipes, test-drive cars, double-check our change at the convenience store. In each case we are testing to see that the actual result meets our expected result.

Entry-level jobs in software QA do not require a computer science degree. The field covers a broad spectrum of technical proficiency. The niche is large enough to accommodate you.

We see graduates of all ages transitioning from H1B visas to green cards, for example, becoming two-income families and homeowners, and establishing themselves in their new country.

Do you want to get on with your professional life? No more excuses! Just do it.